Followers

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Hello peeps, it’s the Canada
Day long weekend here and we are having great weather, although it certainly didn't start that way!

Why am I on the computer
you’re probably thinking right? Well I have a special post for you today,
because I made a special card for a friend’s daughter and I must get it
packaged up with a little gift.

My friend’s daughter, Paula,
recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Now one would think that
this is a wonderful occasion, but this time there is a sad factor to this
otherwise wonderful blessing.

For many years Paula was
unable to carry a baby to full term, but recently the medical reason was
discovered. As a result of this discovery and subsequent treatment Paula
learned she was carrying twin girls.

As with most multiple
births, statistics go against carrying them to full term and this indeed did
happen to Paula. Heartbreakingly, one twin was stillborn; her name was
Charlotte.

Thankfully her sister Claudia survived
and is presently thriving so I am told. I will be meeting Claudia for the first
time very soon, so of course I had to make a card to go along with my gift.

Reason #1; it is my
understanding that Krista designed this image for another special baby who
suffers from a rare illness. Krista did this in order to raise money to help the family with
their medical costs.

Reason #2; this image has
wings, and I thought it could also represent angel wings, as in Charlotte is
now and angel watching over her sister.

I discovered this CAS layout somewhere out there in blog land and instantly fell in love with it, but unfortunately I cannot tell you where or I most certainly would.

Sleeper - R00, R20, 21, 22
and colorless blender

Wings - BG0000, 000, N0,
R21, 22 plus Stardust Stickles

Skin - E0000, 000, 00, 11,
R20

Eyes/Sleeper bottom - BG93,
96, YG 03

Hair - E50, 51, 53, 55, 57

I found this beautiful quote
online and thought it appropriate for this occasion as well.

So peeps, I have taken enough of your
valuable time, and I must get back to enjoying the remainder of this long weekend with
some friends.

Monday, June 24, 2013

What exactly is a Kindred Spirit? Well, in my eyes a kindred spirit
is a term that mean someone you feel a connection with, or someone
who understands you. A kindred spirit can share all of your
goals, ambitions and thought processes or they can simply share with you
only one unique quality. They're people that you connect with on a
deeper level than just basic intellectual and emotional interaction.

One would
think that you need to have direct contact with an
individual, right? Well I can tell you for a fact, that direct contact is NOT necessary,
for I have found one such kindred spirit right here in blog land.

You are all
probably asking yourself why I am tell you all this, right?

Well this
past Friday, Brigitte and I took advantage of a rare opportunity to meet in
person, as she was attending a conference very close to where I live. During
the logistical planning stages, I knew of course that I had to make Brigitte a
special card. After all, that is our first and foremost connection to each other, but trust me when I say we do have many very personal things going on too.

As all my
faithful followers know by now, I usually design my personal cards to reflect
some form of physical or emotional connection.

Brigitte
and I are both Canadian, and she is in fact part of our Armed Forces, so I decided
to take advantage of that fact, and Nicecrane Designs had the perfect image for me
to use…

Nicecrane
Designs has a pretty awesome collection of vintage pin-up girls, and I totally
had fun creating this card for Brigitte!

Here is a
close up shot...

I printed
the image onto Neenah cardstock and then coloured it with my Copic markers. Choosing a colour scheme was pretty much made for me, given the fact that the
military is basically limited to earth tones. (LOL)

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Before I show you my card, I would like to tell you a little bit about it.
Firstly, it is one of many adorable famous illustrators’ children images from
Nicecrane Designs.

This particular image is from the “Sweet Twelvetrees Babies Collagesheet". You simply print onto your own papers or other medium for your cards, ATCs,
altered books and boxes, decoupage, ornaments, tags, assemblage, scrapbooking
and other paper crafts.

When I first
saw this adorable image I had an instant personal attachment to it. I coloured the image with my Copic markers,
and the sentiment and inside message is completely personal between my Father
and I, which I will explain after you see the card; so without further ado….

This picture
isn’t the greatest, but it will have to do because my husband’s camera, which just so happens to be the best camera, wasn’t available at the time I needed to take this
photo.

A closer look...

One of the
nice things about most of the images that can be purchased from Nicecrane Designs, is the fact that many of the images show
shadowed areas. Thus taking out all the guess work when it comes to figuring
out exactly where you need to add darker hues for the necessary dimension. Don’t get me wrong though, you
still need to know how to use your markers, but it helps when you see the areas,
and aids as a way to learn at the same time. I hope that makes sense?

The inside message...

My Father was a fire fighter for 31 years, and I use to play with his dress uniform and old boots when I was a kid. The only difference though, was I wanted to grow up and be a police officer, not a fire fighter. So now perhaps you understand the message.

So, that’s it
for today, but just to let you know, I’ve made another card using another image from Nicecrane
Designs, but I want to get out and enjoy some of this sunshine. So you’ll just
have to pop back in tomorrow or Saturday. Until then, take good care and thanks
for stopping by.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

I am “slowly”
picking up my Copic markers these days and when I say slowly, I mean slowly!

In the hope of trying to find my mojo, I came up with the idea to print several digi images onto one sheet of Neenah cardstock, and because
I don't have a "craft room" per se, I presently have everything set
up on the dining room table. My Copic markers are nearby, and I thought by
constantly walking by these colourless images I just might be motivated into
colouring again. I am happy to report that so far it seems to be working.

Yesterday, I read my friend Penny’s blog, 9 Hawks and a Dragonfly, where she announced the start of a wedding/anniversary card
challenge now on over at the Outlawz Greeting card challenges.

Interesting
enough, I just so happen to have made a wedding card for my dear friend’s daughter’s
wedding and I thought I would share it with you today.

The designer papers
that I used are a mixture of individual sheets that I’ve collected along my way and some basic card
stock. The embellies were either purchased such as the jewels, cheesecloth and doily. I also handmade some such as the flowers (Sizzix) and hearts (Close to My Heart Stamp Set). I also used Spellbinders and Memory Box die cuts, and of course, what would this card be without a bit of Stardust Stickles here and there!

Naturally I
will be entering my card over at the Outlawz Greeting Card Challenge this week,
along with

Guest Designer

I'm a winner

About Me

In 2000 I was stricken with a life altering illness that ended my professional career in law enforcement. You think your life is going according to plan, and then one day you wake up and it all changes. I have many physical disabilities that rob me of my independence. After overcoming many hurdles there came the day when I desperately needed to find something meaningful to do with my time. It had to be constructive, challenging, and had to keep my brain active. I tried so many different things that just didn’t light that spark, so I kept trying new things and so on. One day I found myself dabbling in the paper crafting world where I developed a passion for Copic Marker colouring, and guess what, I found that spark. Now I have a new passion, a new direction wherein that I want to learn more and more.
If somebody had of told me that I would eventually create a blog and display my artistic abilities within it I would have told them they were off their rocker! However, I didn't get here alone; together with the love of a wonderful man, a truly amazing family, my masterful friend Sean, and along with some awesome and wacky women friends, I was able to get it together.